Swiss evangelicals invited to the Swiss Council of Religions

Evangelicals were invited to participate in the Swiss Council of Religions as guests for a probationary period.

The President of the of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance (RES in the francophone area of the country), Jean-Luc Ziehli, informed about it in his November news letter. He will represent the three main evangelical networks in Switzerland: the SEA (Swiss Evangelical Alliance in the German area, the VFG (Free Churches) and the RES.

The Swiss Council of Religions (SCR) was founded in 2006, “to cope with the changes in the religious landscape of Switzerland and in response to an international context in which religion can be used to legitimize violence and war”.

It is composed of leading personalities of the three national churches: the Jewish community, the Orthodox Metropolis and Islamic organizations.

The Council aims to “to contribute to the maintenance and promotion of religious peace in the country; to promote understanding and trust between leaders of religious communities; and to speak with one another rather than one about others”.

JOINT DOCUMENT ON REFUGEES

This Council launched a joint document for the protection of refugees called “In Front of You Is Always a Human Being”.

They “call upon the State and politicians with five specific appeals, which also define areas of action for the religious communities themselves so that they can contribute to the protection of the persecuted”.

The appeals were drawn up by religious communities in cooperation with the UNHCR Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein